For the Love of a Shaman
by Silver Fox Trot
Summary: HaoxOc! Hao somehow ends up in the care of a Canadian Shaman, injured because of his battle with Yoh. He also ends up with amnesia! Oh, boy. Some mild swearing is in this fic and some blood later this as well.
1. Chapter 0

**_Prologue_ **

_

* * *

_

I do not own Shaman King, if I did, do you think I'd be writinf fanfiction?

* * *

He couldn't believe it. He simply could not it. He had once again been denied the title of Shaman King. FOR THE THIRD DAMN TIME! Didn't someone once say that the third time was a charm? Well, whoever had said that he hoped was dead and if he wasn't, he'd soon be wishing he was.

He sighed and finally decided to sit up from where he had been laying down.

At least I'm alive, this time, he thought. That's always a plus.

Sighing yet again as he stood up from the sitting position and dusted himself off. He wasn't all that surprised that he had survived his little brothers' final attack. Seeing as he hadn't taken the brunt of the attack; he had had the Great Spirit explode just before the attack would have hit him. He had lost the Great Spirit, and with it the Spirit of Fire, in the explosion, but only for the moment.

He knew that the Spirit of Fire would come back to him again, once he and his spirit would be back to full health, but as it was, he had only the smallest bit of mana left. This meant that most of the damage he had received was from his own attack which left his body was in relatively good condition. Unfortunately, he couldn't say the same for most of his clothes.

He bent down and picked up the semi-charred pieces of what used to be his poncho and, seeing the state that it was in, took a look the rest of his clothes. Both of his gloves appeared to be relatively good condition, only have a few burnt patches here and there. However, his boots were beyond salvaging, so he kicked them off. His red chaps where also beyond saving, but they did, however, save his blue jeans from the same fate.

His only regret was that the three star-patterned belts that had run behind his legs were burnt. He quickly removed them and threw them in the same pile as his boots. He removed his gloves and brought his hands up to his head to feel his earrings. He could tell that the paint had boiled a bit during the explosion and were badly warped, so he removed them and threw them in the pile as well. His hair was only a little singed at the end; which he decided he would cut it later, once he found out where the heck he was. His Oracle Bell was also in good shape, so he left it on his arm.

Now that he was certain that his body was in good condition, he took a look at his surroundings. It appeared that he was still in the desert, seeing as there was sand almost all around him. He could see the sun, which meant he was no longer inside Patch Village, either in one direction, he couldn't tell if it was going up or down, so he decided to wait and see if it went up or down, it would help re-orient his sense of direction.

He also noticed that he wasn't all that far from some cliffs and in the distance he could see a tiny pinprick of light at its base. A large fire, and where there was fire there were people, hopefully Shamans. Seeing no other alternative, he started walking barefoot towards the small pinprick of light. He estimated that he would be there in roughly two hours or so.

After an hour of walking, he noticed that his shadow was slowly growing longer in front of him, which meant that the sun was setting and that he was heading eastwards.

Damn, he thought, I must have been out for at least half a day, at the very least.

He stored this bit of information for later use and concentrated on the fire in the distance, which was slowly growing larger. Now that he was closer, Hao could see that there was only one person beside the fire. He was still too far for his Reishi technique to be of any use, but he estimated that it wouldn't be long now; he was more than halfway there.

Finally, after a lot more walking, Hao deemed that he was close enough to the person for observation. He was still slightly too far for his Reishi, but he vision was sharp enough to see what the person beside the fire was doing, although he couldn't tell if the person was a man or a woman yet.

He was slightly content in the fact that he was alone at the moment; he always could concentrate better when he didn't have all the voices of his followers floating around his head. A thousand years had passed since he gained the ability to see into the hearts of people and he still hadn't mastered one of his most valuable techniques.

It was quite a useful tool in battle, he could tell what his opponent was going to do and to judge the loyalty of his followers, but outside of battle it was more of a nuisance than anything. He hated having all those voices in his head; it made it very hard to think. The only exception was Opacho, whose childlike naiveté was more soothing than irritating.

Judging from the length of the persons shadow compared to his, he estimated that whoever it was, was most likely a good deal taller than him, possibly six feet, maybe a bit less. He couldn't see a spirit, but that didn't mean he (Hao had decided to henceforth call the person a he, until proven otherwise) wasn't a Shaman. Many Shamans kept their spirits inside their memorial tablet, or the spirit could have chosen to be invisible.

He decided to get a little closer.

He silently approached the fire until he was close enough to get a good view; Hao was hidden behind a large rock, so he knew that he wouldn't be seen. A week ago it wouldn't have mattered, but right now he had no Spirit and barely any mana, so if it turned out to be just a human, he would have no way to get rid of him and if it was a Shaman, he would have no way to defend himself if ever it turned out the person was aggressive. He might be the strongest Shaman alive, but he was at a huge at that particular moment.

Hao frowned, he was close to the man, roughly twelve feet or so away, sp he should have been able to hear his thoughts by now, but all he was hearing was silence. Had his Reishi been damaged somehow?

"You might as well come out, Mappa Douji. I know you're there." Said a distinctly masculine voice. "Or do you prefer Hao Asakura now?

To say that Hao was shocked was a serious understatement, but, true to form, he hid it well. Putting on one of his famous false smiles, he stepped out from behind the rock. What was the use is hiding if the person you were hiding from knew you were there, and how did this man know his long abandoned name?

"Well, it seems like you have the honour of knowing my former name. May I have yours?" Asked Hao, no point in instigating an attack when you have no way to defend yourself. He may have hated humans but he wasn't stupid enough to go around with barely any mana, early on in his first life, he had learned several different fighting styles, just in case he ever ran out of mana at a very inopportune time. They also helped keep his body in good physical shape.

"Oh, that doesn't really matter; my name is of no importance to one such as you." Said the man as Hao walked to the other side of the fire and sat down across from the man. He tried to look inside his hood, but he was unable to get a good look.

"I suppose you are right. Did you participate in the Tournament?" Asked Hao, anxious to discover this mans identity and slightly suspicious. He had a photographic memory as a result of his extreme training and prided himself on it. He had known how even the weakest competitors in the tournament, but he could remember someone that resemble the man in front of him.

"Yes and no." The cloaked man answered vaguely with a wave of his gloved hand.

This answer only served to irritate Hao, but he took a deep breath to calm himself down. He couldn't afford to get mad now, seeing as he didn't have Spirit of Fire as a backup plan.

"Would you care to expand on your answer?" Asked Hao smoothly. His Reishi ability still wasn't picking up anything from this strange man, could he have finally lost the ability that had plagued him for centuries?

"My answer is what it is." He said, shrugging. "So, now that I've answered your question. Will you answer mine?"

Hao considered for a second before answering.

"Depends on what your question is." He finally responded.

"Why, exactly, do you wish to become the Shaman King?"

Hao was, once again shocked, but he once again kept it hidden behind a smile. If this man knew his true name, how could he not know the reason? It seemed about as absurd as knowing what the sun was, but not knowing that it provided light and heat for the planet!

He couldn't help it, he laughed. He laughed so hard that he ended up falling onto his back in a rather undignified position. Finally, one he was finished laughing, he sat up, rubbing his sore stomach and wiping away the tears that he had involuntarily shed.

"That is the most ridiculous question I have ever heard!" Said Hao once he had gotten his breath and composure back. "I'll answer it anyways, though, since I'm feeling generous."

Even though he couldn't see the mans' whole face, he was able to see his lips, which had curved into a small smile. For some reason, something deep down inside of him was angered by this man.

"I want to rid the world of the cancer known as Humans. All they do is poison the world. They're killing Nature! They don't understand it like shamans do and what humans don't understand, they destroy!" He said, with a touch of anger in his voice.

"I see." The man nodded. "Is that experience talking?"

"That's my business." Hao said sternly, that was one question he would never answer, not even if Opacho had asked him, his past was his own.

The man just nodded again, which only served to infuriate Hao further. He glared at the man as he moved his right hand, which, until that point, had been lying across his lap. He placed his hand it into his cloak and several seconds later removed his it and tossed something towards to Hao.

He caught it in midair and brought it up to his face to look at it curiously. It was a thin, rectangular piece of metal on a chain. On one side, written in English characters, was the word Hiro, but the other side was blank. He arched an elegant eyebrow, looking at the silly trinket the man had thrown him. What was he suppose to do with an obviously human trinket?

Suddenly it felt as if he had been hit with what he would later swore could have passed for a bus, a city bus full of hard cement. Then his vision started to darken.

The last thing he could remember was hearing the cloaked man say something in the ancient tongue passed on through the Patch tribe and a weird sensation in his chest. He screamed. Louder than he had ever screamed before, even louder than when he found out his mother had been killed by that human.

* * *

Well guys, here's my re-revamped story, as some of you may see, I haven't changed much, just a few grammatical errors and such. I've also added a little more detail and cleared up any typos I made while writing this originally. I also made it slightly longer. It's now over 200 words long! I've also made a decision recently upon which I will state here;

I, Silver Fox Trot, hereupon swear on the Gods of Mangadom that I will write only the best fanfiction I can write any if my readers find any errors; I will fix them at the fastest opportunity possible. I will obey all Canadian grammatical rules, except when the story demands it, such as a persons particular speech patterns.

I will also not resort to writing 'fangirl' Japanese, such as the words 'Hai' 'iie' and 'arigato', except when the situation demands such as when two people meet an neither speaks the others language, of which they will be rare, if any. The only exceptions are titles, names of characters and attacks, and the honorifics of various characters. I will also remove from future chapters, words like 'Okaa-san', once I get to them sometime in the near future.

I will also write using complete words, not text-chat, AKA pls instead of please, etc. Any text chat will be said in dialogue and not written on the screen.

I will also respect the laws of cannon and realism, as such, Anna will not suddenly fall in love with Ryu and the characters will not suddenly run up a mountain in the Rockies, run back down and fly back to Tokyo with the span of several hours.

I will also try to keep all the various facts about my characters straight and try not to mix them up too badly, and if anyone points them out, I will fix them pronto.

I will try to write new chapters in a timely manner, but I am only one woman who has a job and goes to college and writes a lot for my course, my time is limited and I have lots to do, but I will finish this story, eventually. Hopefully by 2010.

That should cover everything, I think. Hope you guys enjoy my new and improved chapter!


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1

* * *

**_

Posted January 22, 2006

Disclaimer; See Prologue

* * *

Akiko yawned. It was only her second week working at the hospital after she had asked for a transfer and she had already fallen into a boring routine. Wake up at six, get dressed, take a shower, eat breakfast, wake Hikari, prepare bag for Ken and lunch for Hikari, wake Ken up, feed him breakfast, get Ken dressed, see Hikari off for the bus, take Ken to daycare, go to work, do rounds at the hospital, find a quick lunch, continue rounds, meet Hikari at the entrance and bring her to the office to do her homework and get her to help with some of the nurses after, finish rounds, get Hikari and pick-up Ken from daycare, go home, prepare supper, play with kids, read for a bit then finally go to bed.

She checked her watch. It was almost four in the afternoon; Hikari would be arriving any minute then. She stood up from her small desk in the cramped nurses' office and made her way through the labyrinth that was the hospital.

As she neared the entrance, she immediately recognized her eldest child; it wasn't by her chestnut brown hair that reached a little past her shoulder blades, that her and her younger brother had inherited from their father, although Hikari had several small strands of her own raven hair, nor was it the calming brown eyes that were partially hidden behind her glasses, which were tinted due to the large amount of sunlight this part of the country had been receiving lately- she had inherited from her; no, it was the fact that she was the only person that had a spirit floating around their heads.

Akiko sighed at the sight of the black ghost cat. She had appeared not long before they had moved and had attached himself to Hikari and refused to go anywhere she wasn't, which had caused problems for Hikaris' own Guardian; Shigure, an Inugami. Her own Ghost; a deceased doctor named Tom she had acquired when she was a little girl, had no problems with the slim black cat, but the cat was a nuisance to the Inugami; him being a dog-spirit and all.

She couldn't quite remember when Hikari had acquired her own spirit, he had appeared during a short time after her husband, Alex, had died in the hospital and she had been suffering from a depression. She greatly admired her daughter for her strength during the few weeks after her husband had passed, for taking care of the rest of the family. From making sure she got to work to taking care of her little brother.

She didn't know what she would have done without her.

"I hope you had fun at school, Hika-chan. Did anything interesting happen today?" She asked her daughter, whose head swivelled her way when she heard her voice.

"Nothing much, Kaa-san. We had a test in ecology, but I am sure I did well." Said Hikari, turning around to greet her mother. She followed her mother into the maze, all the while watching where she was going for future reference; in case she got lost or something. When they reached the cramped office, she went to her mothers desk, barely noticing that there were no other people there and began to place her school work, the cat still circling her head. Satisfied, Akiko left to continue her rounds, taking her clip-board with her.

Hmm, let's see, she thought, flipping through her papers. I only have three more people to see before I can leave.

She had to visit the elderly Mrs. Dubois and give her medication, making sure she took them and then she was off to the maternity ward to make sure that everyone was comfortable and finally, a John Doe. He had been admitted late last night after he had been found on the side of the highway, just on the edge of town. He had no sever injures, only a few small burns on the chest and fingers and a fractured rib, but so far didn't look to be causing major pain. Also, he was only wearing a pair of jeans and some dog-tags with the word Hiro written on it, as well as some red device on his arm. There was no other identification whatsoever on the body.

They had done all they could to make him comfortable and all they had to do was wait for him to wake up and ask for his identity. They had already taken finger prints for the police to search through records, but it could take weeks to get results. He was to have someone with him 24 hours a day until he wakes up. Sara, a co-worker of hers, would replace her at the end of her shift. Akiko sighed; it was going to be a long evening, watching a sleeping boy for several hours. Maybe she could get her daughter to accompany her and help her with her homework?

So, she went on with what was left of her shift. Finally, one hour after she had met her daughter, she found herself in front of the John Doe, surprisingly; her daughter was already there, using the table as a desk. She was about to ask what she was doing here when her daughter spoke.

"Kayla-san asked me to take what was left of her shift, something came up at her sons' after-school activity and she had to leave immediately." She said, turning a page in her text book.

She calmly walked towards her daughter and hugged her in a motherly embrace.

"Hika-chan –" Started Akiko, but she was interrupted.

"Akiko! We need your help! There's been an accident on the Highway; we need all available personnel ready. We have four wounded on the way; they should arrive any minute now!" Said a doctor, standing by the door.

Akiko sighed released her daughter and got up, following the doctor, she smiled at her daughter before leaving.

Hikari waited until her mother was out of the room before shutting her Math text book with a snap and leaning back in her chair. She shrugged off her jean jacket; it was warmer in the boys' room than in her mothers' office and stretched her arms. Her eyes were tired, so she removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes before leaning back on her chair and relaxing for several minutes.

After looking at the back of her eyelids for several she slowly opened them and looked up at the ceiling, silently wondering why everything was blurry and then realized that she hadn't put her glasses on. She did so then look at the only patient in the room.

He seemed young, probably her age or at the most a year older. He had brown hair that was only slightly paler than hers, they were also a lot longer than hers and she estimated that they reached his waist or so, if his bangs were anything to go by.

She played with a strand of her for a while, but quickly grew bored. She looked at her homework that was splayed over the table, before grabbing her sketch book.

"Ne, Shigure, how about we catch up on some art homework? It's due tomorrow." Said Hikari, looking down at her memorial tablet she had removed from her bag. Out of the tablet came a large Siberian husky. He was all black except for his muzzle and paws, which were white and he had the most striking blue eyes imaginable.

He looked up at hi mistress, growling at the cat that was still going in circles around her head, before jumping on bed and curling up. Hikari grabbed her bag and took out her art pencils and grabbing her sketch book from the table.

She opened the book to her book and found a blank page, then leaned back, thinking on what she could draw. Her art teacher had given her class free reign, the only rule was that it had to be a living person and she was stumped on what to draw.

She could draw Shigure, but she had done a lot of that lately, besides, it had to be a person. Her little brother, perhaps? No, he'd never stay still long enough to draw him. Her mother perhaps? No, she wouldn't have enough time; it'd over an hour to draw completely. She looked around blankly at the walls, lost in thought.

She couldn't ask anyone in her class, she had just transferred there a few weeks ago and didn't know anyone. She looked at the boy on the bed. She thought for a bit, maybe she could draw him? They weren't going anywhere for a little while, so why not?

She grabbed her pencil and started drawing the sleeping boy before her. An hour or so later, she was done, it wasn't perfect and was in black and white, but she figured her art teacher would be pleased. She had given it her best shot and had done what was expected of her.

Just as she was putting the finishing touches on his hair, her mother walked in.

* * *

Pain. That was the first sensation he noticed. It wasn't an intense I'm-dying-a-very-painful-death type of pain, more little a dull throbbing that originated in his head. The next thing he noticed was that he could hear some voices around him. He couldn't tell make out what was being said clearly.

The next thing he noticed was that all he was seeing was a black void and he silently wondered why. Was he blind? No, it's just that his eyes were closed. He thought blankly. Why not open them? So he did, but he was blinded by the light of the room and quickly shut them again. He groaned.

This action caused the voices to stop, which he was partially grateful for, the humming of the voices was giving him a headache.

Slowly, he opened his eyes again, ignoring the glare of the harsh lights above him. He looked around. At first, everything was blurry and he couldn't make out anything very clearly.

After several seconds, his vision cleared and the first thing he saw a young girl, she had brown hair and eyes. He looked to the right and saw a woman older than the first one, she had darker hair and eyes than the girl, but other than that, they had similar features. Must be related, he concluded.

Then he noticed that there was a third person just behind the second woman. He had short, dirty blond hair and green eyes; all he could see of his clothes was a long white jacket. He seemed…different from the first two women. He looked at the man a little more closely and then he noticed what was different with the man. He was transparent.

* * *

Authors note; Well, here's chapter one, all finished and ready to go. I've already started working on chapter two and I hope to get it up by next Sunday (I'll try to go for one a week). I hope that my old readers like this version of my fic better than my old one and that new readers like it period. If you have any comments or if you find any errors, I would greatly appreciate it. Until next update! Remember, reviews are greatly appreciated, even if it's to say it's a good fic; who knows, I get enough reviews, I might write faster! 


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2

* * *

**_

Posted January 28, 2006

Disclaimer; See chapter 1

* * *

Shigure was the first one to hear him, him being the one closest to him. His excellent sense of hearing helped a good deal though.

He lifted his dark head and looked at the boy whose bed he was sleeping on. He tilted his head a bit so that he could hear better, He also tilted his ears forward to catch the sound better. There. His heart was starting to beat a little faster, his breathing was speeding up, he was about to wake up. He looked at his mistress, who was currently having a discussion with her mother. He barked to get their attention, at the same time that he did, however, the boy groaned.

These two sounds caused the two people, as well as the two other spirits in the room to turn their attention on the boy. Even that cat that followed his mistress looked at the boy curiously. He turned his head towards the boy. His eyes were half-open and looking at his mistress, then the turned towards his mistress mother, then her spirit.

* * *

Akiko looked at the young boy with a nurse's critical eye. He looked slightly disoriented, which she and the doctor were expecting. Also, he was looking directly at her daughter and her without squinting after he had adjusted to the light in the room, which meant that he must have relatively good eyesight. He was also way to thin for a boy of his age; her motherly instincts almost kicked in, but she quickly reigned them in.

As he seemed to be looking past her shoulder, his eyes squinted a bit. With her peripheral vision she saw her trusted Spirit, Tom. Of whom she had let out of her memorial tablet to get a secondary opinion on her patient.

Had he seen Tom? She thought. If he had, that meant he was either a Shaman or, at the very least, had a sixth sense. She would have to watch him, if he was another Shaman, then he would have to be treated with care. With the Shaman Tournament going on, who knew whether every Shaman they met was benign? She decided she had better introduce herself.

"Don't be alarmed; my name is Akiko Yamato. This is my daughter, Hikari. You are in a hospital right now." Said Akiko, pointing to her first, then her daughter. "Hikari, could you go and get Philippes-sensei, please. Take Tom and Shigure with you."

She left, slightly confused with her mothers' orders, her mothers' spirit showing the way with her spirit faithfully trotting beside her. Just as she turned around to ask the boy his name; another nurse walked in. In the two weeks since she moved into this new town, she had met all of the nurses in the small hospital, there were only about twenty or so, and she got along with most of them, but the nurse that walked in was the exception. Her name was Katharine and she was THE most snobbish person she had ever had the displeasure of meeting. She barely did her share of the work and ordered the other nurses to it. She expected everything to be handed down to her on a golden platter. How she ever made it through medical school was beyond her.

She had tried to be nice to the young woman, but there were some people that you couldn't help but dislike.

"Alright, honey. I need your name." Said Katharine, looking at the young boy expectantly. He just blinked at her. "Well, tell me! I haven't got all day!"

Akiko shot a sharp look towards her fellow nurse.

"Kath, he just woke up! Give him time to wake up!" Said Akiko sternly. Katharine just shot her an ugly look.

"Listen, honey, I don't know about you, but I have an important date tonight and as soon as I finish with the kid, I'm outta here. So why don't you mind your own business and go back to your own country!" Said Katharine snottily, taking out a compact from her pocket and looking to see her make-up was still perfect.

Akiko took a deep breath. It wouldn't be a good idea for her to hospitalize the woman, now would it? No, because that would mean seeing even more of her, which would most defiantly not be a good thing.

Instead, she just smiled politely, grabbed the wench and shoved her out the door. She'd think of something later, after she had dealt with the patient. She also locked the door for good measure.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that, but we really would like to know your name, so that we could inform your parents about your whereabouts." Said Akiko is a motherly tone. She looked at the boy expectantly.

* * *

Hikari silently followed her mothers' guardian spirit even though she knew where to find the elderly Dr. Philippes; why did her mother tell her to bring Tom when she knew that? She looked at her watch; it was just past six, so he would be in his office, getting his things organized for the next half of his shift.

She came up to his office and gently knocked on the door.

"Dr. Philippes? Are you in here?" She inquired, opening the door a crack and sticking her head inside. "Doctor?"

"Yes? Ah, Hikari. I was wondering who was there. Come in, come in! How may I help you?" Said the doctor from behind his desk, looking at a file of some sort.

Hikari entered the room and shut the door behind her.

"Sir? The patient in room 207 woke up a few minutes ago. My mother asked me to fetch you." Said Hikari politely.

"Room 207...room 207. Ah, yes! That young boy that was brought in last night! I'll go see him right now." True to his word, he closed the file and got up; leading the way back to the room she had just come from. On the way there, she ordered Shigure to get back into his tablet once they reached the room, just on the off chance that the boy had a sixth sight. They met up with Nurse Katharine on the way, mumbling something incoherent, they wisely chose to step out of her way and continued on.

When they got to the room, they discovered the door was locked.

"Akiko?" Said the doctor as he knocked on the door. "Akiko, can you unlock the door? It's only me and Hikari in here, you can let us in."

The door was unlocked and opened a few seconds later.

"Sorry about that, Philippe-sensei. Katharine-san just came by and she was rather rude, so I locked her out. I didn't want her to scare the patient." Said Akiko, opening the door to let the people inside.

"Ah, that would explain why she looked so mad earlier, I suppose she was up to her old tricks? I'll have a talk with her later." Sighed the doctor, before looking at his newest patient, who was currently staring back at him with an intense gaze.

"He hasn't spoken a word since he woke up. Although, I must admit he hasn't been given the chance to." Admitted her mother, looking slightly embarrassed.

* * *

He looked on in silence as Akiko pushed out the rude woman, whose name he cared not to learn. After she was out the elder woman locked the door, then she turned and faced him.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that, but we really would like to know your name, so that we could inform your parents about your whereabouts." Stated Akiko.

He just looked down at his hands, between the first girl leaving and the other one entering; he had taken the time to sit up and get comfortable. He tried to remember what his name was, but all he found was a blank. He tried to remember something, anything, but yet again, all he drew was a blank. All he could remember was waking up here. He was about to tell the woman this when there was a knock on the door. He heard someone talking from the other side, but he couldn't make out what was said.

He watched as she walked over to the door and let in Hikari and an elderly man in. He supposed that this man was the Philippes-sensei that Akiko had requested earlier. He said something to Akiko, but he didn't notice what was being said; he was looking at the girl, Hikari. She was staring back, but after several seconds, he turned his attention to the old man.

"Well, young man, my name is Dr. Philippes. Now, I suppose that by now you've already been asked for a name." Said the doctor calmly, looking at him expectantly.

"I-I don't know. I can't remember anything before waking up here. All I can remember is a blank." He said calmly.

* * *

Authors Note; Well here's my new chapter, I know it's not all that interesting and very repetitive, but I just wanted to get this chapter over with and I promise that next chapter, I'll try and stick to one persons perspective, which I'll try to have the next chapter up for next Sunday. Also, if you have any questions on something, don't hesitate to ask!

* * *

Reviewer thanks;

chibi fire spirit, MaiValentinefan, Andrea-Nefisto, Andrea-Nefisto, Koji Jaganshi. Thank you for reviewing! This chapter is for you!


	4. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3

* * *

**_

PostedFebuary 8, 2006

Disclaimer; See Prologue

* * *

Hikari blinked as she heard the boy answer. He couldn't remember his name, or anything else? She looked at the boy; he was currently staring at Philippes-sensei with his dark eyes.

She tried to imagine what it would be like not to remember anything about her family. She shuddered mentally, to her, her family was what the most important thing; she would give anything for her family.

She awakened from her musing when she saw Philippes-sensei approach the boy with a serious look on his face.

"Can't remember? That's odd; you don't even have a concussion, or serious head injury for that matter. This is most curious; I'll run a few more tests to make sure we didn't miss anything the first time, because we saw nothing that could cause amnesia. Most peculiar…" Said the doctor, grabbing the clip-board at the foot of the bed that had most of the results from the few tests they had been able to run that day. They hadn't run many, just a body check for any surface injuries and other small stuff.

"Philippe-sensei. Is it possible that maybe he had a terrifying experience that forced his brain to lock-out the memories. He was found alone on the road." Suggested her mother.

"Hmm, that is possible, but then he would have only lost the memory of the incident, not his whole identity. Maybe we have a case of psychogenic amnesia?" Theorised the doctor.

"Psychogenic amnesia? What's that?" Asked a curious Hikari, she was familiar with many hospital-terms and many sicknesses from helping around in many different hospitals with her mother, but this was a new one to her.

"Psychogenic amnesia is when someone completely forgets their identity. They can't remember who they are, but they still retain all their abilities. They can still speak any language they've learned but they just won't remember how they learnt it." Explained the doctor as he put the clip-board back where it belonged.

"Oh." Hikari took a quick look at the boy and say him staring at the mortuary tablet that contained Shigure. Had he seen her spirit sneak himself inside it while they were talking? Could he see spirits? She was suddenly grateful that the cat that had adopted her was invisible at the moment.

"There's still the matter of a name though." Stated the doctor. "We can't keep calling him 'boy' and John Doe doesn't really seem to fit him."

"Philippe-sensei, didn't he have a necklace with a tag on it earlier? Maybe that's his name? Even if it isn't we could always call him that." Said Akiko, staring at doctor.

"True." Obliged the doctor. "But I think we should ask his opinion on the matter. What do you say? Shall we call you the name that's on the tag we found you with?" He turned and looked at the boy; Hikari saw that he was reluctant to remove his gaze from her tablet and looked blankly at the doctor.

"What's written on it?" Asked the boy seriously.

Akiko picked up the tag from where it lay on the table and looked at it for a bit.

"It says; Hiro. Odd, it's a Japanese name, but it's written in romanji." Said Akiko, as she handed it to the doctor.

"Hmm, that might explain for his slight accent." Though the doctor aloud the doctor, who handed the tags to Hikari, who inspected the tags closely. She looked up at the doctor when he made his last comment however.

"Accent?"

"Well, you might not be able to notice it because you have the same accent. Since he does, that means he might be Japanese, or at least speaks the language fluently enough to have an accent."

Hikari turned to look at the boy, who was looking at the tags with mild interest.

"Ne, what do you think? Should we call you Hiro?" Said Hikari, smiling as she put the tags around his neck.

She watched as he lifted the tag and stare at it. He then turned to look at her still smiling face and smiled.

"Sure."

* * *

When Hikari, her mother and little brother returned home later that evening, she went straight to her room. Placing her school bag at the foot of her bed and her spirits tablet on her desk, she took out the supplies for her daily meditation.

Once her incense burner was placed in front of her and she had placed her incense - she had chosen lilac scented because that was her favourite flower – and was lit, she sat down on her bed, crossed her legs and cleared her mine of all thoughts, focusing on only the glowing ember on the stick and the plume of smoke that arose from it.

Ever since she had been five years old she had meditated, or at least try to, every day. It was a sort of tradition within her family. The Yamato family was a very old family, whose roots could be traced back to when Japan had been known by Yamato and they were a very shamanic family, not as powerful as the Asakuras' but still powerful enough in their own right. But they might soon be though; mainly because the Asakura family was dwindling in numbers.

The Yamato family was pretty large, it was estimated that there were over sixty people. They weren't to sure because when the Asakura family had warned them that Hao had been born again, her grandfather had decided that until the Shaman Fights were over, they should spread out across the globe, so that in the event that Hao came to recruit at the Yamato compound all he would find was her grandparents and a few of the weaker members of her family and it would be nearly impossible for him to find all of the members.

Her, her mother and her brother had seen the comet that would hail the start of the tournament. Hikari hadn't participated in the competition, mainly because she didn't particularly like fighting, even though she knew she was strong by shaman standards. The other reason was that it had been decided that her cousin; Akane, the heir the Yamato clan would represent their family.

She had met him once, when her parents had gone the compound to show her new little brother to her grandparents. He had been there to receive 'special training' for the tournament. She hated him the moment she met him. He was too stuck-up in her opinion, spoiled rotten. She doubted he had made it past the prelims.

She took a deep breath and yawned as soon as the last of the ashes from the incense had fallen into the tray. She got up and placed the tray back where it belonged and looked at her watch.

Mom must be finished with supper by now, she thought. Just as she thought that she heard her mother calling.

"Hika-chan! Supper's ready!" Shouted her mother from the kitchen, she even heard her little brother shouting what she presumed to be the same thing. She wasn't to sure, seeing as he was still learning the finer parts of sentence structure. That and the fact that he tended to mix together his Japanese, English AND French into some new, bizarre language that they had yet to understand.

"Coming!" She shouted and made her way to the kitchen.

She entered the kitchen to find her mother fighting with Ken, trying to get him into his booster seat, not having much luck.

"Kaa-san? Need any help?" She asked her mother.

"Yes, please. Just set the table. Hopefully this won't take long." Said her mother, still struggling to put the toddler in his seat.

"Sure." With that, she set up the table for their small family and when she was done, she helped her mother bribe little Ken into his seat with a small piece of candy.

When that was done, they sat done and began to eat their supper in relative silence.

"Kaa-san, what do you think happened to Hiro-san?" Asked Hikari. "To, you know, make him lose his memories and stuff?"

Akiko put down her chop-sticks and sighed before looking at her daughter.

"I'm not to sure, Hika-chan. He had no serious injuries to his head, so the only other logical explanation would be that there was that something traumatic happened and his brain is just blocking the memories of the event."

"But why did he lose all of his memories, wouldn't he have just forgotten the event?"

"That's what should have happened; it's a most unusual case."

"What's going to happen to him now?" Said Hikari sadly, using her chopsticks to push her vegetables around her plate.

"Well, until his wounds are healed, he'll have to stay in the hospital, the doctors should let him out in a month or so. Then he'll most likely be placed in foster care if we haven't located his parents and he'll attend school. It's only September, so he should only have a little problem catching up to whatever grade he's put in."

"Oh, ok." Said Hikari after a while, picking up a piece of cauliflower and putting it in her mouth.

Akiko looked at her daughter, thought about the idea that had came to her earlier when she saw the interaction between Hiro-kun and her daughter.

"Hikari-chan, I have a favour to ask you." She said, putting down her chopsticks.

"Yes, Kaa-chan?"

"I was wondering. Since there are no children Hiro-kuns' age at the hospital, think maybe you could spend some time with him? It might do him some good to have someone his age to talk to. I'd really appreciate it."

Hikari didn't even have to think about it, she had been planning on doing it even if her mother hadn't asked her to.

"Sure."

* * *

Authors Notes; My God. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry, but I've been really busy these past few days! It's mostly because I got a job on Friday! Quite funny, actually, how I got it. I brought my CV in on Friday morning and was hired on the spot; my first shift was that night. I got a job at Tim Horton's, night shift, which is from 10 pm to 6 am and unfortunately, I do my best work between sundown and 2 am, so you can see my dilemma. You have no need to worry though, because this Thursday might be my last shift; I'm only just finished my training last night and this Thursday I'm doing my first solo (night shift is always solo) and it'll be a test as well. If I do well, I get the job, if not, I get paid for my time during the training and I look elsewhere. I'm not too crazy about the hours, so I hope it's the latter. I can always find a better job elsewhere that pays the same and in which I have better hours. I have no clue when I'm going to post next, so you'll just have to be patient until then.

* * *

Reviewer thanks;

I'd like to thank the following reviewers;

Khalia-chan, AndreaNefisto, isa18, Exploded Toilet Bowl. Thank you all!

* * *

PS; I know this chapter is boring, but I have to get through this tedious stuff first before I get to the good stuff. It's like how I used to eat my Halloween candy; eat the stuff I don't like first, then you get to use the better stuff to wash it down and you appreciate it all the more!


	5. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4

* * *

**_

Posted March 5, 2006

* * *

Hiro looked around his room through half-lidded eyes, it was the day after he had woken up and he was bored. He picked up his fork and pushed the under cooked vegetables around his plate. He was still hungry, but nothing on the plate seemed to appease his appetite. Although the pitiful amount of rice he had gotten last night with his supper had been the only that had interested him, the rest he had taken a small bit before putting it aside.

Finally, he picked up the plate and put it aside. Instead he picked up the book the Akiko had brought him when she arrived this morning. It wasn't that bad of a book and kept him occupied for a good deal of the day, but now he needed something else to keep him occupied.

He tried getting up earlier, but the sharp pain all over his body told him it wasn't the smartest move he could make; while he was trying to think of something to do when he heard a knock on the door.

"Hiro-san, may I come in? It's me, Hikari." Asked a voice from the other side of the door, he recognised the voice right away; it was the girl he had met yesterday; Hikari.

"Come in." He said calmly and sat up a little straighter in his bed as she opened the door and entered. She was wearing a plain jean jacket with a blue t-shirt with a puppy on it and a pair of faded blue jeans. In her hands she had a bouquet of different flowers. She smiled at him as she approached the bed.

"I brought these for you, Hiro-san. I thought the room could use a little colour. I know I'd go mad eventually, being stuck here all day with only white walls to stare at." She said as she placed the flowers on the bedside table.

"Thank you very much, Yamato-san." He said as he watched her fiddle with the flowers trying to make them look right in the vase that she had bought for the flowers.

"Please, call me Hikari. You can even call me Hika-chan; that's what my family and friends call me."

"Only if you agree to drop the –san. It sounds too formal."

"Alright then; can I call you Hi-kun?" She said, smiling to herself as she turned the vase to the side. "Perfect!"

"I'd like that." They both smiled at each other.

"So, what have you been up to today?" Inquired Hikari as she set her schoolbag down by the door and sat down in the chair beside the bed.

"Not much, really. I've been stuck here all day. I've read a book your mother brought me earlier." Said Hiro, pointing to the book on the table. She picked up the book and took a quick look at it.

"Harry Potter; that's one of my favourites; it's a very good series. There's only one thing that I find a little bothersome though." She said, placing the book back on the table.

"Really? What would that be?" He said curiously.

"It's her whole concept of Spirits and stuff. She says that only wizards are able to become wizards are able to become ghosts."

"And you don't believe in Spirits?" He questioned, looking at her curiously.

"Not in the way she describes them." She answered cryptically.

Hiro was about to ask her more questions when the door opened and Akiko stepped inside the room; she smiled once she saw that her patient had a guest.

"Good Morning, Hiro-kun, Hika-chan. How have you two been?" She asked.

"I'm fine, mother. I just came in." Said Hikari respectfully to her mother, smiling happily.

"I am well, although I am feeling a little restless, being cooped in here all day." Said Hiro.

"Hmm…I have an idea; Hika-chan, why don't you bring Hiro-kun to the arboretum? It's such a nice day and the leaves are going to fall soon; you better take a good look at them before the snow covers them all!" Akiko said, smiling to herself.

"Mother, Hi-kun can't even stand up! How do you expect us to go see the arboretum when I'd have to drag him?"

Akiko internally raised an eyebrow at her daughters little nickname for her patient but let it slide; her daughter never had the chance to make many friends before they would move again. Besides; it wasn't very often that her daughter smiled like that.

"Hika-chan, you could borrow one of the hospitals wheelchairs. That's what they're here for, after all!" She said cheerfully.

Hikari looked at Hiro, who looked back at her.

"Sure, I'm getting tired of this room anyways. I could use some fresh air." He said politely.

"Alright; Hika-chan, you know where to find them, right?" She waited for Hikari to nod before continuing. "You go get them while I go find a jacket for Hiro-kun; we don't want him to catch a cold on top of what he already has, now do we?"

"Of course not! I'll be right back Hi-kun!" With that, Hikari dashed out of the room. Her mother smiled at her antics before following her daughter at a more sedate pace, she smiled at Hiro before she left the room.

Hiro looked out his window while he waited for them to return; he didn't have to wait long for Akiko to come back, only about five minutes or so. In her hands she held a pair of jeans and a plain white shirt along with a navy sweater with a maple leaf on it.

"I brought the jeans that we found you in; all nice and clean now! The shirt and sweater belong to a doctors' son; he keeps them here in case he needs a change, but I'm sure he won't mind if you borrow them for now. They should fit well enough until we can buy you some new clothes." She said as she placed the clothes on the bed. "Hika-chan will be back in a little bit; we don't use the wheelchairs all that often so they're probably in a storage room somewhere. In the meanwhile; we can get you out of those pyjamas."

Indeed; ever since he had gotten there; he had been in hospital pyjamas, since the only clothes he had were his jeans and that weird red thing that looked like one of those handheld game devices that kids were into, except that it was attached to his arm by some cloth and had a small chain at one end and five odd spike-looking things at the other. His jeans had been taken to be washed and the other object had been placed in the closet that was in his room.

* * *

Half an hour later, Hikari and Hiro were calmly walking through the arboretum, silently enjoying the calm atmosphere around them; Hikari had a sad look on her face, though; even though the contrasting evergreens and deciduous trees were rather beautiful in her opinion, this season still made her sad. As a shaman, she could see spirits, whether she wanted to or not. Sometimes it was a good thing, because then she could see fixated ghosts and help them resolve their issues before they ended up hurting the living or worst; condemning their souls to a hellish existence forever; but other times it made her sad; such as when she would the leaf spirit 'die' when they would fall from their tree, she knew they would be back next year, but she still felt sad.

"It's nice out here, isn't it?" Said Hikari, trying to distract herself from the death surrounding her. Hiro waited a little while before answering.

"Yeah…I guess." He answered cryptically.

"Something bothering you?" Asked Hikari as she pushed his wheelchair along the hard dirt path. She looked at him as he looked at a gardener who was busy racking up the leaves that had already fallen.

"Why are they dead?" He asked after several seconds of watching the man rack.

Hikari was silent for a moment before answering.

"Y-you mean you can see them?" She stuttered. Could Hiro see the dead spirits? If he could, does that mean he was a Shaman?

"You mean you don't see them?"

"No -I can- it's just that only Shamans can see them. Can you see the dog too?" She asked pointing to Shigure who had been following her since she left school. She had brought Shigure with her because she brought him everywhere as he was her main Spirit. The cat had decided to follow Ken today; so she let him. He wasn't a vicious spirit so she wasn't worried about her little brother. "I think we should go back and talk to Kaa-san about this."

* * *

Authors Notes; I am SO sorry (once again) for the late update; I've just been….preoccupied with a lot of junk lately and tons of shit fell on me all at once (not literally, of course) and I've been rather depressed to boot. That and I haven't had any inspiration. I should be back on track soon.

I would like to thank the following people;

Heather, Andrea Nefisto (to answer your question I'm currently 17, but I'm turning 18 soon and I didn't get the job; but it's no big loss I hated the hours, the pay, the boss and the fact that I had to do EVERYTHING by myself; in fact I'm quite glad I didn't get the job!), chibi fire spirit (No! give me Hao back! Lol!) and isa18. Thank you very much!

Remember the more reviews I get the more it makes me want to write!


	6. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Posted April 30, 2006

* * *

**_

Akiko smiled as she went about the last of her rounds when she saw Hikari, with Hiro in his wheelchair, she also noticed that Shigure was trotting beside them; which was odd because Hikari knew better than to let her Inugami spirit wander the halls of the hospital. Normal people couldn't see Spirits, but people that were…off…in the head could which had caused a few problems when she entered the mental ward for the first time with Tom; after that she had taken to carrying him in his tablet and had taught Hikari to do the same, wherever she went, and was planning on teaching Ken the same once he was old enough.

Akiko turned to intercept the young teens, hands on her hips and a frown on her normally pretty face. She was about to scold her daughter when she noticed that there was an anxious expression on her daughters face.

"Kaa-san, I need to talk to you. Now; in private. I found out something about Hi-kun that might interest you. It's very important."

Akiko nodded without saying a word and led them to her office; once she got there she closed the door behind them and turned to face her daughter and her patient.

"Kaa-san, I think that Hi-kun might be a Shaman." She said immediately as soon as the door had closed. Akiko blinked. A Shaman? If Hiro was a shaman, then where was Spirit?

"How did you figure that out?" She asked curiously. If he was indeed a Shaman, then they would have…problems…if any of the staff were to find out. Who knows how they would react? They might even ship him off to the mental institute the next town over!

"Well, when we were walking outside, he said that he saw the leaf spirits. I asked him if he could see Shigure and he said he could!" Her daughter exclaimed, pointing to her loyal Inugami that was curled up by the door, eyeing Hiro with his smouldering blue eyes.

"Calm down, Hika-chan." Akiko said to her daughter and then she turned to the boy in the wheel-chair. "Is this true, can you really see Shigure? Show me, please."

Hiro nodded yes and pointed to the Inugami by door.

"I see. You CAN see spirits." Said Akiko, sitting down at her cluttered desk

"Is that…a bad thing?" Asked a concerned Hiro.

"Not necessarily. It just complicates matters. Now; listen very carefully Hiro, it's very important that you do. Whatever you do, you must not reveal that you're a Shaman to someone who doesn't already know about Spirits, not unless you are 100 sure how they'll react to it." Said Akiko sternly.

"Why?" Asked a very confused Hiro.

"Because, quite frankly, most people are terrified of what they don't understand and terrified people can do stupid things they wouldn't normally do. I know this may sound harsh, but it's the truth. I hope you understand; it's for the protection of everyone." Said Akiko sadly.

"I…understand. Thank you for your time." Said Hiro distantly, lost deep in thought on what had just been said to him.

Hikari saw the saddened look on Hiros' face and quickly thought of a plan to cheer him up.

"Ne, Hi-kun, want to go out to the patio and play some card games? I play them with my little brother when something bothering us; it helps me at least. We could play Go Fish? I could teach you Black Jack if you want. We won't be able to play it though; well, we could, but it's better if you play with more people. What do you say, Hi-kun?" Asked a very worried Hikari as she wheeled Hiro out of the office; leaving her mother alone and Shigure silently following them.

"Sure. That would be fun, Hi-chan. Why did she say that, though? What happened to make her think that way?"

"Well, it's not exactly what happened to _her_ per say, but what happened to the _family _and how she was brought up. Kaa-san actually grew up at the Yamato compound with the rest of the Yamato clan. My Grandfather is head of our family and my uncle, Kaa-sans' older brother, is the heir.

"Long ago, people knew of the existence of Shamans as well as Spirits, although they couldn't see them, and Shamans were well respected and my family grew to be quite powerful. There were stronger clans in Japan –did I mention that my family originates in Japan? – Such as the Asakuras', the Ishikawas' so on and so forth. However, soon, people began fearing Spirits and Shamans. Many Shaman were killed because of it, several clans were totally annihilated; my family only survived because they had moved into the mountains. Ever since then, our family has only rarely revealed our abilities to Outsiders. I, for one, think it's time to change that, but Oji-chan would most likely disagree. He's very conservative, he is. I would probably get, well, it's better not to say what'll happen." Stated Hikari as she took her time to reach her destination; it felt good to talk about her abilities for once.

"How come?" Asked a curious Hiro.

"Er…Well, that's a complicated matter it would be better if I told you later. Let's talk about something else, alright?" Stuttered Hikari nervously.

Hiro remained silent until they reached the patio. Since autumn was on the way, the glass doors leading outside were closed, so as not to let the heat out. Once they arrived there, Hikari picked out a pack of playing cards and taught Hiro the finer points of Go Fish and Blackjack.

* * *

So it continued like that for several weeks, Hikari would go to school in the morning and Hiro would stay at the hospital, but he was being tutored by Tom, Akiko's ghost, so he would have something to occupy his time – he was a surprisingly quick learner, but Akiko concluded that he already knew the information from his past life - until Hikari would arrive, at which point they would both, often with Shigure - sometimes the cat Spirit would accompany her, but he had taken a liking to young Ken so it wasn't that often – trailing behind, and they would go to the patio and play cards or do Hikaris' homework. For some odd reason, Hiro was amazingly good with World History. On weekends Hikari would sometimes bring Ken along with her and he took an immediate liking to the long-haired boy, a liking which Hiro returned, after all, who could resist her cute little ototo?

This went on until the beginning of December when the doctors decided that Hiro was healthy enough to begin his physiotherapy, but this was done while Hikari was at school, so all that was lost was an hour or so of Hiros' tutoring a day so it wasn't a big loss.

Sometime near the end of the second week of December, after Akiko and Hikari had finished setting up the table and getting Ken in his chair – with surprisingly little struggle this time round – when she decide to voice an idea that had been bugging her for most of the day.

* * *

"Hika-chan, you've become good friends with Hiro-kun, right?" Asked Akiko, as she passed the salad to her daughter.

"Yeah, why do you ask Kaa-san?"

"Well, I know that your Christmas Holidays are coming up soon, next week, right?"

"Yeah, as soon as my exams are done; I think my last exam is next Monday, it's in the morning." Said Hikari, silently wondering where all this was leading too.

"Well, this morning the doctor told me that Hiro-kun is starting to walk properly again and since he has no medical reason to stay, apart from his amnesia, but there's currently nothing that we can do now but wait, the doctor wanted to know if we were interested in letting Hiro-kun stay with us until he gets his memories back. He already knows us and we know that he's Japanese like us." Said Akiko, using her chopsticks to pick it a steamed carrot and popped into her mouth.

Hikari was silent for a moment, thinking it over for a minute.

"Kaa-san…what about-" Started Hikari, but was interrupted by her mothers comment.

"I received word from your Oji-san that it was over, so we have no need to worry about that anymore; as for the rest, we'll deal with it as it comes."

Hikari nodded in understanding.

"Then, Kaa-san, I'd be happy if Hi-kun would stay with us!"

* * *

SFT; I'm sorry that it took a while for my new chapter to come out, but I had run into a huge writers block that just wouldn't go away. It was quite odd, actually, I KNEW what I wanted to write; I just didn't know HOW to write it! It was like swimming in molasses! I'm better now, so I hope to get back on my regular schedule, unless something comes up, like I get a job, or I go to college.

Speaking of which; I GOT ACCEPTED INTO COLLEGE! This September I'll be going to Algonquin College in Ottawa Ontario to take a two year course in Professional Writing. Wish me luck!

Thank you; syaoranz gurl, Andrea Nefisto, MaiValentinefan and Ayume Yamashira! Thank you all! Please remember to** Read and Review**!

P.S; I'm too tired to look over my fic right now to spot for errors, so if you see any, please tell me? Especially if you see Hao instead of Hiro (you have NO IDEA how many times I ended up putting Hao or almost putting it in), I'd really appreciate it!

**Disclaimer; if I owned it, do you think I'd be writing fanfiction?**


	7. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6

* * *

**_

Posted Sunday,May 7, 2006

* * *

The next morning, which just happened to be Saturday, Akiko and Hikari made their way to the room that Hiro was located in. They knocked and waited for Hiro to invite them in.

"Come in." Said Hiro, a little bit surprised that he had visitors at this hour. Akiko usually only came later during the day, after most of her rounds were done and Hikari usually only came later in the afternoon because she usually trained with Shigure in the morning; it was the same with Sundays.

To say he was surprised would be an understatement, but he was still pleased to see them.

"Akiko-san, Hi-chan! I wasn't expecting to see you until later! You brought Ken-chan too!"

"Good morning Hi-kun!" Said Hikari as she entered the hospital room and gave him a quick hug which he returned happily. She smiled at him. "Hi-kun, Kaa-san has something important to ask you."

"Akiko-san?" Asked Hiro curiously as he looked to the raven-haired woman.

"Hiro-kun, as you very well know, your body is almost completely healed from whatever happened to you before you we found you, except for your amnesia, but there is currently nothing we can do about that except to wait for your memories to return on their own." Said Akiko, sitting down on the end of the bed, hands folded in her lap as she stared at him.

Hiro nodded; yes, he knew that he was in, almost, perfect health. The doctors estimated that by the end of the week he would be able to go anywhere he wanted by his own, without anyone watching to make sure he didn't fall or anything (1).

"Well, the doctors were wondering, since there's no reason for you to stay here anymore, if you wanted to move into a foster home until your memories come back or we find your parents."

Hiros' mind froze in that instant. Leave? He thought.

"Before you make your decision though, the doctor asked me a favour. He knows that you and Hika-chan have become close friends, so he asked us if we would like to take care of you. You could come live with us, if you wanted to of course. We could also help you with your Shamanic abilities, if you'd like."

Hiro looked at Akiko then shifted his gaze to Hikari, who was giving him an encouraging smile, silently telling him that she would respect any decision he made.

It only took that smile to help him make up his mind. He turned his head to face Akiko.

"I'd like that." He said with a large, happy smile on his face.

* * *

The next afternoon they packed Hiros' things, which amount to about two small boxes and left for the Yamato household. Once there, Hikari led Hiro up the stairs to his new room, which was right across from hers.

It didn't have much by way of furniture or decoration, only a desk of drawers, a twin-sized bed in a corner with blue comforter on top and a small headboard that had a lamp and an alarm clock.

"I know it isn't much, it used to be our guest room. Kaa-san said that tomorrow we could go in town and buy some more clothes for you, maybe a poster or two if you'd like." Said Hikari as she helped unpack his things, Akiko was downstairs with Ken making lunch.

"Sure, that'd be fun." Said Hiro as he placed his small collect of clothes in the chest of drawers and Hikari hung up the rest of his clothes in the closet.

"Great! Maybe we can convince Kaa-san to buy that new Ringo CD that came out a while ago! We'll stop by the music store tomorrow and see if we find any music you might like!" Said Hikari happily as she finished unpacking at her end and waited for Hiro to finish.

"Hika-chan! Hi-kun! Lunch is ready!" Shouted Akiko from the bottom of the stairs.

"Coming Kaa-san!" Shouted Hikari from the doorway. She turned to Hiro who was staring at something in the box that had contained his personal items. "Hi-kun?"

Hiro shock his head as if to clear his head and looked at Hikari who was frowning.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something, but it doesn't matter, let's go eat lunch, it smells good. I bet it tastes better than what they had at the hospital." Joked Hiro as they walked towards the kitchen.

"ANYTHING is better than hospital food! I remember when I was little I had to stay at a hospital because I was sick. I didn't know which would happen first, me getting better or death by starvation!"

Both laughed as they made their way down the stair case.

* * *

Meanwhile, half-way across the world a young Shaman by the name of Asakura Yoh was currently sleeping in bed after another hard day of training; courtesy of one Anna Kyōyama. After coming back from the Tournament several weeks ago, Anna had put Yoh to a gruelling training schedule that made his pre-tournament training seem like a breeze as punishment for not becoming Shaman King (2).

Horohoro had returned to Hokkaido with his sister and Kororo, Ren and Jun returned to China with Bailong and Bason. Chocolove had decided to stay in the States with Mic and work on his jokes. Faust and Eliza decided to stay in Japan and open a new clinic there (Germany brought back bad memories), so they were staying at Yoh's Inn until they found a better place. Anna didn't mind it too much since they were paying rent.

Manta had gone home to his mansion with his parents none-the-wiser that he had been missing for several months, although that was probably helped by the fact that his parents weren't even living in the same house as him.

Ryu was also staying at Yoh's Inn, but as the head, and only, chef, but next year he was planning to move to America to learn how to become an expect Sushi chef. When asked why he just didn't learn here, he would shrug the question off and change topic (3).

Tamao had decided to return to Izumo with Yoh's father and continue her training with Ponchi and Conchi.

What was left of the X-Laws had disbanded and moved to England, with Lyserg returning to his now-rebuilt home.

All of Haos' supporters had vanished like dust on the wind; nobody, not even the Patch could find hide or hair of them.

Basically, Life had returned to relative normalcy after the tournament (4).

* * *

AN;

(1)The reason why it didn't take long for Hao to get the strength back in his legs was because he hadn't spent a really long time off of them, maybe a month or two, so his muscles hadn't weakened a lot. Also the reason why he was confined to bed was because he had several broken ribs. You do NOT go walking around with broken ribs – mainly because it hurts A LOT. I just wanted to clarify this so that you don't become confused.

(2)I know that some of what I'll say may be confusing, but this fic is a mix between the anime and Manga. While I'm usually a Manga purist when it comes to anime (meaning I like it when the show doesn't stray to far from the Manga version) I'm going to have to use lots of anime reference, mainly because I've since the ENTIRE anime in English AND I own the box set that has the original Japanese version, and I am only at the beginning of the second round of the Tournament in the Manga! But I do know that in the Manga Hao actually DOES become Shaman King and in the anime Hao just takes the King of Spirits.

(3)This is actually a fact, in the Manga, Ryu was originally heading to America to become a Sushi Chef, but he instead helped Manta to get to Izumo. I was always wondering WHY he was leaving, when Sushi originated in Japan.

(4)I know that the whole thing about was basically useless and nothing exciting happened, but this is just to help you know who is where and why so that in the future I don't end up confusing people (which is very likely to happen). It also helped me make my word quota!

Well, with ten minutes to go until midnight; I think I'll finish it right here, next Sunday will basically be Hikari and Hao shopping and----

Is tackled by the producers

Producer 1: SHH! Don't tell them, it'll be bad for the ratings!

SFT: MMPH! (Help!)

Producer 2: Silver Fox Trot does NOT own Shaman King; if she did, the world would have exploded.

SFT; Glares at producers MMHPP MHHHHP MP MMMHHHHPP! (I'll have my revenge!)

* * *

Reviewer thanks;

I'd like to thank Andrea Nefisto and chibi fire spirit for their continuous support of my fic. As a reward; I'm giving you both a gift, just send a SIGNED review (or else I won't be able to contact you about what your prize is!) and I'll tell you the details about it, wouldn't want the other readers surprise to be spoiled now, would we?

PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW! THE MORE REVIEWS I GET THE MORE I WANT TO WRITE!


	8. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7

* * *

**_

Posted Tuesday, December 5th, 2006

* * *

"Yoh! Wake up this instant!" Yelled Anna from the bottom of the stairs, it was a school day and Anna wanted to arrive early because she needed to use the library for a school project and she wanted Yoh to cook breakfast before she left. She didn't want to call Manta over because by the time he got to their home, she'd have to leave and that wouldn't do at all.

Yoh, meanwhile, was curled up in a tight ball, cocooned by his thick, warm, goose-down blankets. For the first time in what seemed like years, he had had a full nights rest. Not once had he woken up in the middle of the night screaming out his friends name because he'd had a nightmare that Hao was using Spirit of Fire on them. Instead, he had had a dream about a girl he had never seen before, upon waking up, all the facts left him and after several seconds all he could remember where a pair of calming brown eyes and that she had a nice soothing voice. She sounded very pleasant.

"YOH ASAKURA!" But that most certainly wasn't. Yoh immediately shot up in his bed.

"Coming Anna!" Shouted Yoh, hurriedly getting up and getting dressed in his school uniform with enough speed to shame an Olympic Gold Medalist sprinter. He loved Anna; he really did, with all of his heart even! But sometimes she could be so demanding, however the moments where she wasn't like that and was actually sweet made those little moments all the more valuable. Like the time she offered to cook supper for the two of them one night.

Anna, now content that Yoh was now awake and getting ready, returned to what she had been doing before deciding to wake Yoh up; reading a house-wife magazine.

Rushing downstairs, he hurried into the kitchen and started preparing what he would need for breakfast. Today was an omelette, good, simple, nutritious and not many ways to screw it up.

Once he was finished making enough for both of them, he set up the table and went to tell Anna it was ready.

They ate breakfast in relative silence, with Anna commenting only once about the quality of the food. When they finished Anna left Yoh top clean the table and headed for school.

After Anna left, Yoh relaxed around the kitchen, thinking about nothing in particular, as he was apt to do when Anna wasn't around ordering him to train.

He sat on the porch, facing the sun and put on the newest Bob CD. He was soon joined by his faithful Spirit Alley, Amidamaru. In silence, they watched the sun rise higher and higher into the sky.

It was one of those rare moments that Lord Yoh was actually thinking about things instead of falling asleep. Amidamaru didn't want to ruin the moment by speaking, instead opted to offer a silent companionship. If Lord Yoh had wanted to tell of what he was thinking, he would. A good samurai doesn't go asking his Lord needless questions.

"Amidamaru…" Said Yoh out of the blue, in a neutral tone of voice.

"Yes, Lord Yoh?" Answered the ever-faithful Spirit.

"Do you-do you think what I did was right? Do you think I'm a bad person?" Asked Yoh, in the same tone of voice.

"Of course not, Lord Yoh! You're the kindest person I've ever met! You stick up for people weaker than yourself; you give without asking anything in return! You helped made it possible for everyone, Shamans, humans, even Spirits, to continue working on their dreams!" Said Amidamaru and then thought about something for a second. "If you don't mind me asking, Lord Yoh, what brought about this sudden question?"

"I killed him Amidamaru. I actually killed him with my own hands!" Yelled Yoh

Amidamaru didn't need to ask who Lord Yoh was talking about. In all his short life span, Yoh had only ever willingly killed one person: Hao; his Enemy, his re-incarnated ancestor, his brother, his twin.

Amidamaru sighed.

"Lord Yoh. I cannot say what you did was either right or wrong. You saved most of the people alive today, even though they will forever remain ignorant of what you have done for them. On the other hand, you killed your own brother to achieve this. You committed a grave sin on behalf of your beliefs." Said the ghost after thinking it over for a little while.

"I'm just as bad as he is, Amidamaru."

"Why do you say that Lord Yoh?"

"I did exactly what he would have done. I killed the only person standing in my way! How different is that from what he has done?!" Yelled Yoh uncharacteristically.

"You did to save the world, Lord Yoh." Said the Spirit.

"So was Hao! Well, except for the whole 'kill-all-non-Shamans' thing. He was only trying to save us from destroying the planet!"

After that little outburst, it seemed that Yoh had lost all his energy.

"I think I'll go get ready for school Amidamaru."

With that, he left his Guardian Spirit and headed upstairs to change into his school uniform.

* * *

Ken stared wide-eyed as his Kaa-san, Hi-nee-sama (1), and new brother: Hi-ni-sama (2) ran around the kitchen in utter chaos. Kaa-san was muttering something about 'thunder-storms' and 'losing power' and 'alarm clock' in English while making breakfast for everyone, Hi-nee-sama was busy preparing his bag for the play-place while muttering something about 'music' and 'groceries' and other incomprehensible things in rapid French. Hi-ni-sama, on the other hand, was running around the house, picking up pieces of paper and other things and stuffing tem in a bag, muttering about 'school' and 'supplies' in Japanese, jumping out of the way of the women when they came his way.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the little boy, his mother finally placed his food in front of him, along with a spoon which he promptly threw on the floor and began using his hands to put his food in his mouth: much simpler this way!

* * *

Akiko sighed to herself as she heard the spoon clang on the floor the moment she turned her back on her youngest. She picked it up and threw it into the sink to wash later and then she set the table while her daughter and Hiro finished with the last of their tasks for the morning.

Once they were done, they ate a rather quick breakfast, and got ready to leave, putting on their coats and turning poor Ken from a baby into a plushie because his coat was so thick, and got into Akikos' four-door with Akiko in the front, Hikari in shotgun, Hiro behind her and Ken in his baby seat behind his mother.

"Hi-Kun, when we get to the mall Kaa-san and Ken-kun are going to get some school stuff we need. You and I will head to the other stores to find stuff to decorate your room. Think of it as a 'welcome home' present! What do you think?" Said Hikari, turning around in her seat and facing the boy who was currently trying to save his hair from her younger brother, she giggled at the adorable site. "Maybe we could get you a hair cut too?"

Hao just gave her a blank look and then cringed as Ken tugged at his hair.

"Nah, I think you look better with long hair, even if it's longer than most girls' hair these days!" She giggled again and turned around in her seat and the rest of the ride was done in silence, well, except for Kens gurgling and Hiro struggling to free his hair. "You'd look funny with short hair!"

* * *

"Alright, Hika-chan, here's some money for you guys to spend and you're to meet me at the food court in one hour. After that we'll go shopping for some clothes for Hi-kun. Everyone understands?" Said Akiko as she handed her daughter several bills.

"Yes, Kaa-san, don't worry, we'll be alright and if anything goes wrong, we can always use Shigure-san and Kuro-neko-san to get help." Said Hikari as she put the bill into her black and silver wallet.

The night before, Hikari had been explaining to Hiro the basics of being a Shaman. What a Spirit was, the different kinds of Spirits, how to tell the difference between a Ghost and a poltergeist, how to deal with fixated Ghosts, all the basic stuff that a Shaman needed. She also explained that a ghost was basically a person or animal that had lived once then refuse to pass on, for various reasons. She cited Shigure as an example of a Ghost. A Spirit was an embodiment of something and cited the leaf spirits as an example of a spirit. Everything has a spirit, rocks, trees, each leaf, even the air itself.

Hiro just nodded as they slowly made their way around the mall, looking at various shops and stands, their first stops was the music store.

"Ne, Hi-kun, Kaa-san said that maybe if you were to hear something that's familiar to you, you might get back some of your memories. Let's listen to some of the more popular ones and see if we can find any triggers!" Stated Hikari as she snaked her way through the crowded store towards the back, where all the earphones and demo CDs were, leading Hiro by the hand so that they wouldn't get separated.

"It's as good a plan as any, I suppose." Replied the longhaired brunette, shivering slightly at the contact with her hands, Hikari had said that it wasn't unusual for shamans to feel a slight jolt when skin touched skin. It was an automatic reaction of their furyoku (3) when they meet a foreign furyoku, but it usually wears of eventually, as both furyoku get used to each other.

It had been several months since they first touched and he still felt the jolt, while he no longer reacted that way to Akiko and whatever reaction he had had to Ken small amount of furyoku had stopped after the fist time the young boy had jumped on his bed and poked him awake.

"Let's see, what's popular right now for people our age?" Muttered Hikari to herself. "Ugh! I think this is one example of where my total technology avoidance is coming back to haunt me. I suppose we'll just pick one at random."

For the next forty minutes, Hiro tired on earphone after earphone, but not one of the songs he heard reminded him of anything.

"Well, this is the last one here, might as well give it a shot. What kind of name is Soul Bob anyways? Ringo Awaya is much cooler."

The young boy shrugged silently and put on the earphones without a word. He personally found Ringo a little depressive and quite scary once he saw a picture of her on her newest CD, but that was just his opinion.

When Hikari pressed the play button and the low rumbling of Soul Bob washed over him, he felt a strange sensation, but he couldn't place a name on it. The harder he tried to concentrate on the feeling, the more it seemed to slip away. It was like trying to hold water in cupped hands; the waters would just slip between the fingers.

"Hi-kun? Hi-kun? Hikari to Hi-kun! Hi-kun, you're starting to scare me, Hi-kun!" Said Hikari, tugging at his shirt a worried look on her face.

As suddenly as he had snapped into hi quasi-meditation, he snapped out of it and took a wobbly step back.

"Ah, sorry for scaring you, Hika-chan, I won't do it again, I just got lost in thought for a minute. How about we get this CD, he seems pretty good." Said Hiro, picking up Soul Bobs' CD.

Hikari signed and resigned herself to listening to Soul Bob.

"Sure, Hi-kun." She looked around and spotted the poster rack. "Ne, how about we get a poster too? We have enough money to get both. We need something to decorate your room anyways!" She dragged the young boy to the posters before he could protest and together they flipped through them.

* * *

After buying the CD and a poster of Soul Bob to go along, the two teens slowly made their way through the crowd, snaking and skilfully dodging the occasional holiday shopper overloaded with gifts and the oblivious older teens as they chatted on their phone, paying more attention to the blinking lights of the storefront than what was two inches in front of them.

Once they arrived at the food-court, they realized that they had a problem or two, actually. One; the food court was large, very large, and second; it was almost completely filled to the brim.

They both stared in semi-horror at the huge mass in front of them and sighed. How where they going to find the slim Akiko and a toddler in this mess?

As if to solve their problem Tom, Hikaris' mothers' guardian ghost, appeared before them.

"This way, madam, sir. Mistress Yamato has already ordered food and is waiting for you with Master Ken. She asked me to look for you, because off all these people here."

"Thanks, Tom. Lead the way." Said Hikari, Hiro echoing her thanks and they followed the spirit to his new family. For some reason when he thought that, he got goose bumps.

* * *

On the way back to Akikos' home, Hiro reflected on the day he had spent. For lunch they had had 'fast food' from a place called Wacdonalds. It wasn't very good and didn't even compare to Akiko's cooking, but it was there, so they had to make do. They then spent roughly three hours trying on different types of clothes. They tried on short, but only a few, for gym at school, some t-shirts, slacks, dress shirts and jeans and many combinations of them. In they end, they all reached mutual decisions. Short were ok, but not great, same with t-shirts, slacks were a big no-no, button-down dress-shirts and jeans were the best, so that was mostly what they chose from. After clothes were done, they went for shoes.

At this point, Hiro shuddered at the memory and swore to himself he would _never_ step inside a shoe store unless it was absolutely necessary, AKA; when both the running shoes they had bought for sports, normal shoes for school and winter books were all thread-bare and where held together with duct-tape and chewing gum.

Finally came the coats, a nice thick parka for the guaranteed harsh winter to come, and a windbreaker for when it would finally leave.

Hiro looked to his right at the sleeping Ken beside him and smiled slightly at the drool that was dripping down his chin and the focused his gaze on the front passenger window, where Hikari was dozing peacefully in her seat.

"You're not tired, Hi-kun?" Asked Akiko from her seat, looking at him in the rear-view mirror, as if to prove she was right, Hiro yawned just at that moment. "Why don't you just put your head down for a bit? I'll wake you when we get home."

"Alright…" He said sleepily, he leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes; the gentle swaying of the car rocked him to sleep.

* * *

(1) + (2) Hi-nee-sama is Hikari. Nee-sama literally means 'respected elder sister' and Hi (pronounced he, not like the greeting) is Hikaris' nickname, as well as Hiros', since they both start with Hi and it made it kinda cute. 

(3) Also known to Official Manga readers only as 'mana'. I prefer to use furyoku because it's what they use for both animes (Japanese and English, quite shocking, actually) and I presume the Japanese Manga, but I don't know because I only know how to read 'fire' in Japanese.

* * *

**Author's Note**;

I'm sorry it took so long for me to update, but I've been up to my eyeballs in work with college. Since September, I've written over 30 pages of material. THIRTY! That's about as long as this fic actually is, sans AN. College has also drained a lot of my energy. Luckily, I only have 3 days of classes left, then I have a break, I might write another chapter in between now and January 1st, when I go back to school. If I get enough encouragement, I will defiantly write another chapter before then.

**P.S.** As an apology, I made this chapter longer than usual! Hope you enjoy, remember to review!


	9. Shaman King Omake

**Shaman King Omake**

**A Mankin Barbeque

* * *

**

Posted Tuesday December 5th, 2006

* * *

**Before** you read any further, please note that this is an Omake. It has _nothing_ to do with the fic, I just wrote this because I was having a sugar rush and I saw this hilarious Shaman King fan art on Deviantart. There is a link on my Bio; you can get a look at the pic from there! Before you ask, yes, I did ask for permission to do a fic on it! Remember; this is completely **AU** to both canon AND my fic!

* * *

It was a bright and sunny day at Funbari Hill. Everyone was on summer vacation from school and feeling quite relaxed and content. Even Hao and Ren, who normally bickered constantly, where content to just laze around on the porch of Funbari Inn, although they were on opposite corners of the porch. 

At roughly noon, Horohoros' stomach growled, along with Yohs'.

"Ugh, I'm so hungry!" Complained the Ainu shaman. "Yoh, is there anything to eat around this place?"

"No, Anna and the girls have been gone all week, and we've already eaten all the food they left us. Except those frozen hamburgers in the freezer." Said Yoh, not moving from his spot beside his twin.

Then, an idea popped into Horohoros' head.

"Hey, Hao?"

"Yeah?"

"You still have Spirit of Fire, right?"

"Yeah, I'm the Shaman King aren't I? I control all of the Great Spirits don't I?"

"Couldn't you just use him to cook those burgers? I'm hungry!"

"Let me get this straight. You want me, the Shaman King, most powerful Shaman alive today, to use Spirit of Fire, a Great Spirit, part of the Kings of Spirits itself, to cook us food just because we're all to lazy to go grocery shopping without Anna yelling at us to?"

"Yep."

A sigh emanated from said Shaman King.

"Why not?" Hao got up from his seat. "But only if you guys go get the burgers and the barbeque. It's that, or you all go hungry."

Horohoro opened his mouth, but shut it immediately, getting up and ran to the kitchen. Yoh and Ren looked at each other, nodded and left to get the barbeque. Hunger was an excellent motivator. Not as good as Anna, but still good.

Hao looked at the only remaining member of their little group.

"Manta, go and get my apron."

"What? Oh fine, which one is yours?"

"Trust me, you'll know."

He got up and all but ran to get his apron; he wanted to eat as well! When he got to the entrance of the kitchen, he looked at the hook rack loaded with aprons, each one was white, but the all had a different saying or image on it.

One had a large orange on it, defiantly Yohs'.

The next had something that was written in Mandarin, Rens'.

There was one with a pink heart, Tamaos'.

Last but on least, the one on the end had 'KISS THE COOK', the last word was crossed out, and PYRO was written instead.

Manta sweat dropped. That was most defiantly the work on Haos' girlfriend, seeing as Hao was useless with a needle and no one else would be willing to give him something like that. He might be on the good side now, but he still had a temper. He grabbed the apron and ran back to the backyard, where Ren and Yoh had wrestled the old barbeque and Horohoro was fighting with the frozen burgers to get them onto a plate, he gave the apron to Hao, who tied it on.

Once that was done, he was handed the burgers and placed ten on the grill, enough for two each.

He looked to the gang that was staring at him expectantly.

"How do you guys want you burgers?"

Yoh yelled out medium, as did Horohoro and Manta. Just to be different, Ren yelled out medium-rare.

Hao turned to grill and concentrated on raising the heat around the burgers, like he used to do before he started living with Yoh and Anna.

When he finally felt a spark form, he surprised himself when a huge column of flame erupted from in front of him.

He turned to look at his friends.

"Right. Your choices are raw and well-done."

He was met with stunned silence.

"What the heck just happened?!" Yelled Manta from his place behind Yoh, where he had jumped to when the fire at started.

"I guess I still haven't gotten used to the power-boost from the King of Spirits. How about we go out for lunch?"

* * *

AN; I hope you guys liked this! It's an added apology for not updating in so long! Remember to go check out the original art! 


	10. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8

* * *

**_

Originally p_**osted Tuesday, December 26, 2006**_

**_Reposted January 6, 2007

* * *

When they finally arrived at their home, Akiko was surprised to see a delivery van in their driveway, with a man knocking on the door, shuffling from foot to foot to keep warm because of the cold, Akiko presumed. _**

She brought her car into its usual place and honked the horn, immediately waking up the two teens, but her youngest slept on, completely oblivious.

The man turned to them, smiled happily and quickly made his way towards her. Akiko got out of the car as Hikari rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, but Hiro, she noticed, was already alert and completely focused on the man approaching her. Curious.

"Excuse me, but are you Mrs. Akiko Yamato? Or do you know where I can find her? I have two packages for her that needs a signature." Said the man, looking down at his clipboard for the name and then handing it to Akiko, who took it and flipped it so that she could read it.

"I am she; I wonder who sent the packages?" Mused Akiko, looking over the clipboard and looked for her name, when she found it she looked at the senders' name. "Oh, it's from Obaa-san!" She signed where she was suppose to and handed the clipboard back to the man, who left to get the package from his truck. "Hika-chan, Hi-kun, you can come out, you know. Hika-chan, could you bring in Ken and look after him and Hi-kun, could you bring in the bags? I'll help them nice man bring in the boxes and I'll come help you."

Hikari nodded silently and got out of her seat and proceeded to bring her little brother indoors.

Hiro also got himself out of his seat and opened the trunk of the car then he miraculously managed to grab all the bags at once before following Hikari into the house.

After placing bags out of the way beside the staircase, he turned around to go help Akiko with the package when he saw her come in with one and the man he saw earlier tugging at a larger parcel.

Seeing that Akiko could handle with the one she had, he went to help the man by grabbing the back and picking it up, getting a smile from the man in return. Hiro was a little surprised at how heavy the thing was.

After Akiko had put the other parcel in the kitchen, she navigated both of them to the living and miraculously they didn't knock over a single thing! Breathing a little heavily, they both leaned on the large box, gladly taking the glasses of water Hikari offered them.

"Thank you very much for bringing it in, you too Hi-kun, here's a little something for helping." Said Akiko, digging through her purse and handing both of several dollar coins each.

The delivery boy thanked her and left, closing the door firmly behind him.

"Kaa-san? What did Obaa-san send us?" Asked Hikari, coming into the living room, a sleeping Ken in her arms, his little head in the crook of her neck, mouth slightly open and drooling only the tiniest bit, but it didn't seem to bother her that much.

"I don't know, but let's go open the first one, would you mind going to go get it, Hi-kun? I left it only the table."

"Sure." He pocketed the money and went into the kitchen. There, on the table, was the package that Akiko brought in, it was smaller than the other one, and had small holes around the top at equal intervals. As he reached for it, it shuddered and he jumped back in shock. After waiting several seconds with the package not moving, he gingerly picked it up and brought it to the living room, where he set it on the floor.

He immediately noted that in his absence, Hikari had left, most likely to put Ken in his crib, and Akiko was reading the letter that had come with the packages. He set the box on the floor, gently, and leaped back again when it shuddered one more time.

"Take a seat, Hiro-kun; we'll just wait for Hika-chan to come back, I want to talk to you both about what Obaa-san wrote to me." Stated, Akiko, not even looking up from her letter, silently Hiro sat down on the couch and closed his eyes for a bit, all that shopping earlier had worn him out, even all he had done was try on what seemed like hundreds clothes in different styles, sizes and colours.

Hikari entered at that moment and immediately took a seat beside Hiro, head drooping slightly.

"Tired?" Inquired Hiro.

"Yeah, a bit, I think I'll go to bed early tonight." Yawned Hikari, bring a hand up to her mouth." She jumped in her seat when the box on the floor jerked once, then stopped moving. "Kaa-san….what's in the box?"

Akiko looked up from her letter.

"Oh, Obaa-sans' letter doesn't say specifically what it is, only that 'he's someone to keep Hikari-chan company when she gets lonely'." She quoted from the letter. "I'm guessing she didn't get my letter about Hiro-kun yet. I'm also guessing the second box has the cage for the…whatever it is." She finished awkwardly.

"Can we open it now?"

"Yes, you may, but be gentle, you don't want to startle the poor dear and it must have been a long trip for him, even if it was 'next day delivery'. He might be a little stressed out." Warned Akiko as Hikari slid off the couch and crawled the short distance to the box.

Hikari looked at Hiro and motioned for him to join her, which he did. Together they carefully removed the first layer of thick paper and slowly revealed a pet carrier. Peeking inside, Hikari came face to face with one of the cutest things she had ever seen.

"Aww! He's so adorable! Hi-kun, Kaa-san! Obaa-san sent us a ferret!" Exclaimed Hikari quietly, so as not to startle the little guy. "Hey, cutey, wanna come out? Kaa-san, can I take him out?" She looked hopefully at her mother. "Please?"

"Alright, as long as you're careful." Said Akiko after several seconds.

Hikaris' face lighted up with a giant smile and she turned to the cage and slowly opened the door, cooing gently to the little creature inside. Once the door was open, she placed her hand, palm upwards, at the door of the carrier and stood perfectly still.

Hiro leaned forward to get a better look at what his friend was doing.

As he was looking in the cage, he noticed that something was slowly coming out. It was rather small, about the size of his hand and half again, and was extremely thin, Hikari could have easily wrapped her smaller hand around its belly and it wouldn't be a tight fit.

The head was small and triangular shaped, and was mostly creamed colour, with the exception of a darker brown around the eyes like a mask, and its small triangular ears. Its front legs and tail were also the same colour, with a band on its back that went from one leg to the other. All in all, it was cute.

When it as half way out, its pink little nose twitching incessantly, it took a good look around, then cautiously moved towards Hikaris' hand, taking many good sniffs, the gently, put its front paws and began making its' way up her arm and onto her shoulder where it finally came to a halt, when it wrapped itself around her neck like a living scarf.

"What do you think, Hi-kun, isn't he just adorable?" Said Hikari, petting the ferrets head as it dooked (1) contently.

"Yeah, he is. What do you want to name him?" Asked Hiro, bringing his hand up and rubbing the head of the little ferret, who dooked happily again.

Hikari thought about it for a while. After several long minutes of thought, all she drew was a blank.

"I don't know. Let's wait a while before deciding. It's kinda late, how about we think about it in the morning? I'm sure we're all very tired right now. Kaa-san, does Obaa-san mention in her letter what's in the other box?"

Akiko glanced over the letter one more time.

"Yes, it's the cage for our new friend, for when we're all out of the house. Although I think he'll be fine in the carrier for tonight, we can set up the cage tomorrow morning. Now, off to bed, both of you." Said Akiko, folding the letter and putting it back in it's envelope as Hikari got up and put the ferret in it's and Hao dug through the bags of clothes to find a pair of flannel pyjamas that they had bought earlier. The one had a simple design; it was completely black except the cuffs, which where an icy-blue in colour, and a simple stylized star on the left breast pocket. He went upstairs to his room to change.

After going to the washroom and brushing his teeth, he crawled into bed and fell into a dreamless sleep almost right away.

* * *

A while later, roughly halfway across the globe, another young boy of the same age, was not as fortunate. 

No, Yoh Asakura was having a rather haunting dream. Although to anyone else, it would seem ridiculous, the feeling he got from the images in his dreams sent goose bumps across his skin in waves.

In his dreams, he was walking along a dark path in a forest he wasn't familiar with. The forest felt like the woods around his home in Izumo, but, different, somehow, as if all the spirits living there wear crying out in pain, but not theirs, for someone else and in fear. Something was walking among them that didn't belong there.

"Hello?" He yelled out cautiously. (2)

Receiving no answer, he slowly made his way down the path, trying to be constantly aware of his surroundings. Whatever was out there didn't feel like anything he'd like to meet anywhere, let alone in a dark forest.

After walking for what seemed like forever, and feeling totally disoriented, Yoh ended up at a large glade that had a huge, crystal clear lake in the middle. It was absolutely beautiful, especially with the full moon reflected in it.

The only thing was a solitary figure standing at the edge with its back to Yoh.

He stepped closer to the figure and noticed that, whoever it was, was wearing a dress and even with only the light if the moon, he could tell that the dress was pink and had a tilt string of stars around the waist and another string of stars going through the young girls long brown hair.

Just as he was about to call out to her, he noticed something in the corner of his eye. He turned his head and nearly fell down.

Because hurtling towards the girl on four grotesquely misshapen legs and a bestial face that only belonged in the worst of nightmares. It was huge, and was either a dark brown or black in colour, but its bright red eyes shone like beacons in the darkness.

It seemed as if its mere presence was scaring away the light because even though there were to trees to create a shadow to hide in, the created seemed to be enveloped in darkness.

He tried to call out to the girl, but for some odd reason, his voice wouldn't listen to him. Just as the Dark Beast was about to tackle the girl, who was still staring out at the lake, completely oblivious to the danger, he was blinded by a bright light.

With a startled yell, Yoh shot up from his futon and looked around wildly before realizing that he was at home at Funbari Onsen. He took a shaky breath to try and calm him down. He brought a hand to his face to remove the hair from his eyes and noticed that his hand was trembling.

"Is something wrong, Yoh-dono?" Said Amidamaru, coming out of his tablet to see what had woken up his master.

"I-it's nothing, Amidamaru, a bad dream is all. I'm just going to get a glass of water, I'll be right back. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I guess that means no more curry bread just before bed!"

* * *

(1) This is the sound a ferret makes when it's happy, it's called dooking. 

(2) I know this seems OOC for Yoh, but one must remember, he is a Shaman and thus in tune with nature, though not to the degree of Horohoro, so, if the trees tell him Something-Bad-Is-Out-There, I figured he might listen. He's lazy, not stupid. Just look at Shikamaru from Naruto, he's incredibly lazy, but also the smartest guy in the whole series, with the exception of Kakashi, maybe.

**AN**; Yay! Another chapter posted in less than a month! And quite long too, five pages! This chapter is my holiday present to all of you, my dear readers, and if you don't celebrate Christmas, which is highly likely, then consider this just a plain gift for fun! I hope to have another chapter up or almost completed before I leave for school, on the first of January. Unfortunately, my second term starts on the second. Fear not, however, I have the next fear chapters all planed out, so they'll most likely come faster than before, depending on my school schedule. This chapter was to originally have some shaman action, but it was already quite long, but I promise the next chapter we will see some new ghosts.

Now, a** challenge** for all my readers. As you may have noticed, I did give them a pet, however, I was having a hard time coming up with a name, and so, I would like some of you to come up with a name. What you must do to get your name selected, you must state you name, what the name means and a good reason to chose it, look at this example;

Name; Yuki

Origin; Japanese

Meaning; snow

Why; because they got the ferret when it was snowing.

For your name to be chosen, you must have a good reason, you can't choose one because it's 'cute' or 'cool'. The name also doesn't have to be English or Japanese. If you're Native American, you can use one from your language, or a Chinese name, even a Russian name would be fine! Remember, I cannot post my next chapter until I have a name!

Also, besides getting your name chosen, you'll also get the honour of reading my next chapter 24 hours before I post it, so be sure to give me your e-mail as well! So that I can read it, just write your email like this; for (underscore) the love (dash) of a (!) shaman at blah-blah. Com.

* * *

**Second challenge**; 

Who do you think the person in the dress is? What about the monster thing? What about the flash of light? For the first person to guess all three correctly, you'll also get to see my chapter 24 hours before I post it! Good luck!

I also hope you guys liked my Omake, I might be doing more in the future, whenever I get writers block.

Until next chapter,

Silver Fox Trot!


	11. Notes

Note to Readers and Requests

Hey guys, sorry, but this isn't a new chapter, this is just to tell you that you should expect my newest chapter by mid-May. Chapter 9 is killing me, I've re-done it three times and I looked back on my earlier chapters and I've discovered that I have made numerous mistakes, at least 10 in the first page alone, so I am currently going through all 36 pages with a fine tooth and comb. In one day I've done almost 5 pages. I'm being VERY thorough.

I hope you guys can forgive me, but remember, I'm only doing it to make my fic as best as it can be. I'll be changing them periodically, but I won't send a new chapter warning when I do.

For the readers of my first version, no need to worry about me changing it completely again, I'm only going over grammatical errors and inconsistencies that I see. I'll be working on chapter 9 at the same time though; I believe I've finally pinned down how I want to proceed. Yay!

Wish me luck everyone!

Silver Fox Trot

PS; if anyone is interested, I'll gladly write little omakes upon request, but they'll be short! They can invovle anyone doing anything, as long as there are no OCs please. The situation can even be AU, think of it as my apology to you for taking so long! I'll add them to this story and when I'm done, I'll post them in a seperate one! I will, naturally, give credit to the person who asked me to write it, so please, please leave a name!


End file.
